fb.com/BangaloreApartmentsFederation @bafblr [email protected]baf.org.in +91 99003 95000 Bangalore Apartments’ Federation Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 10, Dec2019 Dear Apartment Resident, Its indeed been a very great start to the year 2020 for BAF. With the successful BAMBOOS 2019 as well as launch of AVENuES, apartment associations have been empowered with wealth of information to run their communities and benchmark themselves against the best for improvements. Or one could set their own benchmark with help of experts, and knowledge tools on our website as well. As in January 2020, with 625+ member associations – we are the single largest federation , representing for apartment community not just in Bangalore, but also in India as well as perhaps globally! Let us harness this association and network to create a citizen power for the city that can contribute significantly to our quality of life in the city. We can take all sustainable practices that we learn in our communities and extend it to our homes, neighbourhoods, offices, social places and at any other touch points. And BE THAT + CHANGE for the city! The following paragraph has important alerts and updates for BAF members and every apartment community. Each member can benefit – w.r.t. compliance, saving money or show efficiency in their functioning if these alerts are understood and actioned with due procedure. Failure to understand and apply may lead to additional unwarranted costs to members as well as expose all apartment community to further risks and discriminations. 1. On the matter of KSPCB notices, BAF presented the issues to NGT committee chaired by Justice Santosh Hegde and we were advised to take all grievances to the NGT and seek attention. Further BAF will be filing its first batch of petitions on the Regulatory terrorism unleashed by KSPCB & BWSSB for ECC charges issue of Rs 5 lakhs. The second batch of petitions on the Rs 2-3 crore penalties are also being consolidated for action. Apartment associations who have received notices from KSPCB/ BWSSB/ BESCOM on disconnection of water or electricity or UGD along with inconsistent STP treated water norms report & environmental compensation penalties, may refer to BAF website on responses to be given to the ULBs, as well as further step by step actions 2. BAF is happy to share that BWSSB has reversed its PND charges which were imposed during June 2019. Apartments not using Cauvery water for swimming pool or landscape will not be penalized with high tariffs. However many apartments continue to get billed with partial non domestic charges without realizing that they are getting billed!! Caveat Emptor and Pl ensure you are getting billed rightly under the Domestic – HR (high rise) category of buildings. 3. In the Dec Newsletter, BAF had mentioned about fire department (KSFES) notices & huge invoice amounts (in lakhs) for fire inspection. BAF team has met with the top officials of the fire department and submitted the concerns on this new imposition of inspection tariffs and placed the objections to the same. We do urge for members to not pay this tariff and await further clarifications. Further representations are being made to UDD as well for the same. 4. BAF was invited for Municipalika-2020 held from 12 th to 14 th February by Good Governance Foundation, under Union Housing Ministry. The event was on shape of building & living in “Future cities”. BAF will explore networking, partnerships and thought leaderships in various areas of municipal governance as showcased in this event. 5. BAF GC held its first offsite committee meeting to discuss way forward for BAF in 2020-21, given that we are now a huge 600+ member organization with challenges galore. The initial draft presented in the Feb EC meeting was appreciated by all. 6. BAF has partnered with Mindtree RR Run 2020 to be held on 23 rd Feb 2020. BAF members get special discount on registration fee. Registrations -- https://www.townscript.com/e/mtr5baf . There is need for consistent participation & engagement to represent on various above to officials. Reach out to us at baf- [email protected]and engage with BAF leadership team to contribute. Introducing “CITIZENS’ SAY MUST MATTER” – Express your views on titled subject matter & more…in the January Newsletter! Cheers, Team BAF! Newsletter Also @ https://baf.org.in/newsletters , Volume 3, Issue 10, January, 2019
Its indeed been a very great start to the year 2020 for BAF. With the successful BAMBOOS 2019 as well as launch of AVENuES, apartment associations have been empowered with wealth of information to run their communities and benchmark themselves against the best for improvements. Or one could set their own benchmark with help of experts, and knowledge tools on our website as well. As in January 2020, with 625+ member associations – we are the single largest federation, representing for apartment community not just in Bangalore, but also in India as well as perhaps globally! Let us harness this association and network to create a citizen power for the city that can contribute significantly to our quality of life in the city. We can take all sustainable practices that we learn in our communities and extend it to our homes, neighbourhoods, offices, social places and at
any other touch points. And BE THAT + CHANGE for the city!
The following paragraph has important alerts and updates for BAF members and every apartment community. Each member can benefit – w.r.t. compliance, saving money or show efficiency in their functioning if these alerts are understood and actioned with due procedure. Failure to understand and apply may lead to additional unwarranted costs to members as well as expose all apartment community to further risks and discriminations.
1. On the matter of KSPCB notices, BAF presented the issues to NGT committee chaired by Justice Santosh Hegde and we were advised to take all grievances to the NGT and seek attention. Further BAF will be filing its first batch of petitions on the Regulatory terrorism unleashed by KSPCB & BWSSB for ECC charges issue of Rs 5 lakhs. The second batch of petitions on the Rs 2-3 crore penalties are also being consolidated for action. Apartment associations who have received notices from KSPCB/ BWSSB/ BESCOM on disconnection of water or electricity or UGD along with inconsistent STP treated water norms report & environmental compensation penalties, may refer to BAF website on responses to be given to the ULBs, as well as further step by step actions
2. BAF is happy to share that BWSSB has reversed its PND charges which were imposed during June 2019. Apartments not using Cauvery water for swimming pool or landscape will not be penalized with high tariffs. However many apartments continue to get billed with partial non domestic charges without realizing that they are getting billed!! Caveat Emptor and Pl ensure you are getting billed rightly under the Domestic – HR (high rise) category of buildings.
3. In the Dec Newsletter, BAF had mentioned about fire department (KSFES) notices & huge invoice amounts (in lakhs) for fire inspection. BAF team has met with the top officials of the fire department and submitted the concerns on this new imposition of inspection tariffs and placed the objections to the same. We do urge for members to not pay this tariff and await further clarifications. Further representations are being made to UDD as well for the same.
4. BAF was invited for Municipalika-2020 held from 12th to 14th February by Good Governance Foundation, under Union Housing Ministry. The event was on shape of building & living in “Future cities”. BAF will explore networking, partnerships and thought leaderships in various areas of municipal governance as showcased in this event.
5. BAF GC held its first offsite committee meeting to discuss way forward for BAF in 2020-21, given that we are now a huge 600+ member organization with challenges galore. The initial draft presented in the Feb EC meeting was appreciated by all.
6. BAF has partnered with Mindtree RR Run 2020 to be held on 23rd
Feb 2020. BAF members get special discount on registration fee. Registrations -- https://www.townscript.com/e/mtr5baf.
There is need for consistent participation & engagement to represent on various above to officials. Reach out to us at [email protected] and engage with BAF leadership team to contribute.
Introducing “CITIZENS’ SAY MUST MATTER” – Express your views on titled subject matter & more…in the January Newsletter!
Cheers, Team BAF! Newsletter Also @ https://baf.org.in/newsletters, Volume 3, Issue 10, January, 2019
BAF IN THE NEWS...... BAF IN THE NEWS...... Fire Department seeks permission to grant fire safety clearance certificate Jan 06, 2020, (News article from The Hindu)
The department has written to the State
government seeking permission to order these
buildings to institute safety measures within
their premises. Once they comply, the
department wants to issue a ‘Fire Compliance
Certificate’.
“The proposed Fire Safety Certificate is not a No
Objection Certificate (NOC) or a Compliance
Certificate (CC). It is an initiative to make sure
that the buildings that have not followed
external fire safety guidelines to have a more
robust internal fire safety mechanism,” said Sunil
Agarwal, Additional Director General of Police,
Fire and Emergency Services Department. Only
the buildings built before 2016 will be covered
under this 'compensatory fire safety system'.
"Many high-rises, due to various reasons, do not
have a proper NOC or CC. Hence, Fire
Compliance Certificates will be issued until
further action is taken against the owners,” Mr.
Agarwal said.
The National Building Code includes a separate
and comprehensive chapter on fire safety,
where it specifies, for instance, how many exits
should be provided in a specific kind of building
and where they must be placed.
Officials admit that while it is not feasible for
buildings to make major alterations to the
external structure, residents will be able to
install internal safety features. "For example, in
place of two fire extinguishers, we will direct
them to have four. It will be like an internal
retrofit, which is possible and practical," Mr.
Agarwal added. Other proposed measures
include installing more smokescreens in staircase
areas and water curtains in basements.
Many apartments have deliberately violated
norms. “The minimum setback size prescribed is
six metres. However, many establishments
which have used that space for other purposes,
and some have even been encroached upon,”
said a senior official.
Muralidhar Rao of the Bangalore Apartments'
Federation (BAF) said there was an immediate
need for agencies to take responsibility for their
actions and awarding NOCs to builders even if
they had not adhered to all the norms. “There
are blatant violations taking place even now. All
those have to be immediately stopped," he said.
Read Full Story
Shock and haw over BESCOM’s tariff hike Jan 11, 2020 An increase of 12.75% has been proposed for
domestic consumers The BESCOM’s recent
proposal seeking permission to hike the power
tariff by about 13% has attracted sharp criticism
from consumers. While the Karnataka Electricity
Regulatory Commission (KERC) is yet to take a
final call, citizen groups have trained their guns
Flat owners at loss after drain connections severed Jan 15, 2020 Residents of apartment complexes across the city
are in a fix as the BWSSB has started
disconnecting underground drainage connection
to many.
Read Full Story
Bangalore Development Summit By Vijaya Karnataka Jan 11, 2020
Vijay Karnataka inviting and interacting with Bangalore Apartments Federation, for VK Bengaluru Shrunga (Bengluru Development Summit)
‘Soon, Bengaluru will become Silicon Valley of the World’ -Dy CM says number of techies in city to exceed 3mn mark. Deputy Chief Minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan launched the logo of ‘VK Bengaluru Shrunga’ (Bengaluru Development Summit).
Read Full Story (Bangalore Mirror)
Read Full Story (Vijay Karnataka)
Apartments, KSPCB spar over STP compliance Jan 24, 2020 The Bangalore Apartments’ Federation (BAF),
which has around 550member apartment
complexes, has accused the Karnataka State
Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) of ‘harassing’
them over setting up Sewage Treatment Plants
(STPs).
Read Full Story
495 apartments told to pay Rs 291 crore fine over sewage Jan 27, 2020 Over the past two months, the Karnataka State
BWSSB pushes for use of treated water in Bengaluru Feb 09, 2020 As another summer approaches, BWSSB is
actively pushing the use of treated water for
purpose other than drinking to reduce
dependence on depleting groundwater and
Cauvery water, which has to be pumped from
outside the city.
Read Full Story
Flat owners' association registered under KAOA can't file consumer complaint: SC Feb 15, 2020
The Supreme Court has held that a flat owners'
association registered under the Karnataka
Apartment Ownership Act, 1972 is not a
voluntary organisation, so it cannot file a
complaint under the Consumer Protection Act
against any deficiency in goods or services under
the welfare legislation.
Read Full Story
You can now get an award for conserving water Feb 15, 2020 Ahead of the summer season, the Bengaluru
Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) plans
to recognise those who conserve water. For the
first time, the government utility has instituted
an award – Bangalore Jala Rushi Puraskar – for
those who have implemented water
conservation techniques like rainwater
harvesting and wastewater management in the
city.
The BWSSB has announced five categories:
residential buildings, commercial buildings such
as hotels and canteens, educational institutions
and hospitals, micro, small and medium
enterprises and government buildings. The last
date to submit an application is 5 March and the
final selection is on 18 of March.
Read Full Story
Residents of Mantri Greens a worried lot
over demolition news Feb 15, 2020
News of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) plans to demolish Mantri Greens apartments and Mantri Mall following directions from Karnataka High Court and Supreme Court, has raised an alarm for residents of the up-market apartment complex. The apartment dwellers are a worried lot and have been making enquiries with the builders and legal experts on what will happen to them if their homes are demolished.
President of apartment complex association
Puttasawamy Gowda said all the residents are
tensed as so far, no communication has been
given by the builder or the BBMP.
Read Full Story
Beyond Carlton launches #IamAFireChamp campaign for fire safety Feb 17, 2020
Did you know 50% of all deaths caused due to fire
are from residential fires? Do you make that effort
